The Poppy Appeal
by ThePandorica
Summary: As the saying goes; “Often success occurs when no one is looking, and failure takes place when everyone is watching.” Unfortunately, Poppy Pomfrey was more of a literal person. One-shot.


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**A/N:** This was written for the HPFC Forum, 'What Happens in Hogwarts' challenge. My prompt was the quote in the blurb, and my character was Madam Pomfrey. I have chosen to write her as a student – and I see her in Tom Riddle's year, FYI. Enjoy, and review please?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP.

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Poppy Pomfrey was a bright, young witch with a promising future ahead of her. It remained true throughout her whole six and a half years at Hogwarts....That was, it had until about five minutes ago. Now – she lay in the hospital wing, with singed hair and was in a very, very foul mood.

It had started out as a competition between the elite of the school. A duelling club collaborated by the Head Boy and Girl and only the brightest and best were picked. Poppy was one of the first. Picked for her aptitude in Charms, she saw that this was finally a chance for her to show off her prowess. Naturally, the Head Boy and Girl; the elusive Tom Riddle and her best friend Minerva McGonagall, were going to be there, and she had desperately wanted to make an impression.

Now, however her 'quest' had all gone to pot – so to speak. But then again, Poppy had never been much for metaphors and sayings. Truth be told, she was more of a literal person...

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"Oh this is so exciting, Poppy!" squealed Johanna Redwood beside her, her blonde ponytail bobbing in excitement.

She smiled and nodded her head. It was obvious that Johanna would be the one to get excited. After all, Tom Riddle, the secret heart-throb of many of the female population at the school, was amongst the mass of students here in the Great Hall.

"Shall we move, Johanna? The first duel is about to start."

She motioned with her hand, and together they moved to the side. All the while, she was on the lookout for Minerva, who couldn't be far behind Tom. ...Then, with a shower of red and gold sparks, there appeared her best friend in the centre of the Hall next to the Head Boy. She waved over to her, and then smirked. She couldn't help but notice that Tom looked slightly annoyed whilst Minerva seemed to revel in this event.

Walking forward, leaving Johanna to make her own way to the centre, Poppy tied her curly and unruly, mahogany hair into a low ponytail and approached her friend through the throng of people.

"Minnie!" she cried, as she finally found herself in a clear space. She smiled and embraced her friend, as Minerva rushed towards her, hands outstretched.

"How are you Poppy? Not too nervous I hope?"

As they broke apart, she shook her head and looked around.

"No. I should be okay, although I hope I do well."

Minerva shook her head and smiled;

"You'll be fine, Poppy!"

Poppy smiled in reply, and then looked over her friend's shoulder;

"What about Riddle? He's not duelling is he?"

Minerva snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Tom? No, of course not. It seems that he won't lower himself to duel with mere mortals such as ourselves."

At this, Poppy laughed and shook her head.

"I bet you that you could give him a run for his money."

"You flatter me, Poppy but no. We are just figureheads for today – even though I would like to teach his sorry behind a lesson, I think that shall have to wait."

The two of them giggled, when all of a sudden a noise, the sound of a fanfare, sounded throughout the Great Hall. Poppy looked up, excitedly. The two duellers were about to be announced. ...She waited and held her breath in anticipation, waiting for the names to be announced.

"The first two duellers will be Alexander Ashenwell and Poppy Pomfrey. Good luck, to you both."

In surprise and then rising panic, Poppy looked around. Did she hear correctly? Looking up to the platform, she saw that Alexander Ashenwell was already walking to his place. Quickly, she followed him and them climbing up onto the platform, strode over and shook his hand. A series of 'good lucks' were exchanged and then the two took their places.

Poppy, was now nervous. Alexander Ashenwell was a good opponent. He too was one of the best at Charms, but he also had flair for Defence against the Dark Arts too. ...Something which Poppy, despite her best efforts, only remained average at.

"Alexander will take his first move. Let the duel, commence."

Quickly snapping out of her reverie, she forced herself to focus. Clutching her wand in her hand, she steeled herself and –

Suddenly, she was flying through the air. Mind reeling, she quickly thought; '_Winggardium Leviosa!'_ which, to her relief, made her hover in the air and then touch back down – only a few meters from where she had started. ...Now it was her turn, and then the duel got messy with a 'free for all' ensuing.

Raising her wand, she thought;

"Oppungo!"

Several jets of air fired out of her wand and headed toward Alexander. He quickly, deflected them and held his wand aloft. Then, all hell broke loose.

All she saw were brightly coloured streams of light being fired toward her, as she tried her best to repel every attack. Occasionally, she fired the odd charm but with Alexander on the offensive, there was not much she could do but defend.

Soon, both parties were tiring and as their bank of spells grew limited, Poppy thought that this duel would surely be a draw. That was until he used that damn curse; 'Faeroe'. He knew her weakness, and had exploited it by using fire. Raising both eyebrows in alarm, she ducked and then found herself surrounded by a wall of fire.

"Aguamenti!" she yelled, inside her head even though she knew that it was never going to work. This type of charm engulfed the victim until they passed out. Nothing could penetrate it or stop it, until she yielded.

However, being Poppy Pomfrey – nothing was going to stop her. Pointing her wand at her robes, she thought;_'Glacius' _and her robes instantly froze. Now, she only had one chance. Launching herself into the flames, she passed through the wall – completely dazed and pelted straight into Alexander, knocking both of them off the platform and crashing onto the floor.

The duel had officially ended.

Of course, that spell could never be extinguished and it was now only ninety nine percent successful. The only one percent of it not, being Poppy Pomfrey – the only person willing to launch herself through the flames. ...Of course, it had to be her.

Picking herself up, her robes singed and her expression rather livid, she turned on Alexander.

"Thanks for doing that Alex. You know that really made my day."

The boy just smiled and shrugged;

"Didn't say you couldn't do it Poppy. Besides, watching you walk through those flames really made my day."

Poppy scowled;

"Not funny, Ashenwell."

Again, he shrugged;

"You looked _hot_, Pomfrey. Flaming..."

Before she could retort, Minerva burst through the mass of students surrounding them and pulled her away.

"Hospital Wing, now Poppy."

"What Minerva? I'm fine!"

"...Do it for your sake and mine, before you murder Ashenwell over there. Besides, I'll look bad if you don't."

"What, murder Ashenwell?"

Minerva mused for a moment;

"...That too."

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Kudos, to EvylinDevilin for setting this challenge. It was fun to write!

Review, please?


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